The Carolina Buckeyes
The Carolina Buckeyes are an ex-raider gang turned mercenary "nation." They were founded by Ohio native and pre-war ghoul, Jeremy Widdle. The gang would outlive the pre-war ghoul and grow to dominate most of James Island. They gang operates out of the refurbished Fort Buckeye located across a small road diverted from the nearby Fort Johnson. History Jeremy Widdle was an Ohio native and pre-war sales specialist. He worked for a wide variety of companies as a door-to-door salesman. During the start of the Great War, he was selling Mr Handy accessories in the Charleston Area. Hearing the sirens he fled into a nearby Pulowski Preservation Shelter and remained there for several hours. Soon realizing that there was no hope of surviving without food or water, he opened the shelter to be bathed in radiation. Widdle would survive and begin his transformation into a ghoul. He would continue to survive in the Charleston Wasteland and bear witness to the founding of such settlements as King Street and Charles Town Landing. He would eventually join a small raider outfit after having finally become tired of being ostracized by most human settlers. Over time, Widdle would rise through the ranks and after an unfortunate accident would become the leader of the raider gang in 2145. This gang would form the basis for the Carolina Buckeyes which would be formed two years later. The Buckeyes would inherit the aptitude and several members of this earlier group but would be far more mercenary in their dealing than most raider gangs. The gang would officially become a mercenary outfit in 2147 after being hired by a settlement near Fort Johnson to clear out Fort Buckeye, then known as Fort Sumter. The Buckeyes would refurbish the fort for use as a headquarters. The James Island Standoff The Buckeyes would quickly earn a name for themselves as they were willing to take just about any contract that came their way. This eagerness and the increasingly open-door policy of the gang would lead to them assimilating smaller outfits in the James Island Area. At the same time, the gang would expand its influence and begin building ties with the local settlements. The reasons for this were simple, settlements made all the real money in the wasteland and allowing raiders to cut into that would threaten their major source of income. As they expanded, their presence could be felt in Stiles Point, Whitehouse, and eventually Westchester. However, their actions would not go unnoticed as gangs like the Southbank Boys, the Executives, and the HIGH-tops would ally themselves with smaller gangs still left on James Island to contain the Buckeyes. This would be a successful tactic as neither side possessed an advantage which would allow for the annihilation of the other factions. This blockade would not, however, prevent the movement of goods and people out of and into the area. This would allow Buckeyes to accomplish contracts all throughout the Charleston Wasteland with only minor difficulties and maintain the relative prosperity of South James Island. The Battle for Charles Town Landing Surrounded on nearly every side while remaining a nominally non-raider group, the Buckeyes would face a near-constant threat from the outside raider gangs. In 2201, the Buckeyes would reach a formal agreement with the rich agricultural settlement of Riverland Terrace which provided food in exchange for protection. However, a year later Riverland Terrace, alongside the settlement of Charlestown Landing to the north, would be attacked by a coalition of raiders including the HIGH-tops, the Southbank Boys, Sky's Rangers, and the Executives. Pushed back down the island under ever-increasing pressure, the Buckeyes would be forced to consider aligning themselves with the Brigadiers, whom they had shared some enmity with during the leadership of Marcus Clay. Category:Groups Category:South Carolina